If your ideal shopping trip treat is a fresh crate of 36 lovely Pokémon card packs to crack, this Black Friday deal will be right up your street: Zatu games is offering 39% off a Pokémon booster box of the Scarlet & Violet – Paldea Evolved set, released in June 2023.
That puts the regular list price of $187.99 (£154.44) down to $112.93 (£92.99), just until the end of the week. It’s not a once-in-a-lifetime Pokémon booster box reduction – but it is cheaper than Amazon currently.
Paldea Evolved is the second of six Pokémon TCG sets in the current Scarlet & Violet series, which kicked off with its core set release in March. Paldea Evolved came along on June 9, followed by Obsidian Flames on August 11; the special set Scarlet & Violet 151 on September 22; and the latest, Paradox Rift, on November 3.
The sixth S&V Pokémon set – Paldean Fates – isn’t out yet; it’s scheduled for release on January 26, 2024.
Paldea Evolved might not be the most recent release, nor an ancient favorite full of mega-valuable rare Pokémon cards, but some of its chase cards – of various Pokémon card rarity levels – are still worth decent money, and can play a role if you’re building after one of the best Pokémon decks.
The Hyper Rare item Trainer card Super Rod can be a super helpful comeback card in a pinch, rescuing three Pokémon or Energies from your discard, while Chien-Pao ex, as one of the generation’s new legendary Pokémon, is a must-have for collectors.
And at the top of the wishlist is another Trainer, Iono Special Illustration Rare. Along with glorious full-card art, this is a devious competitive play that bakes a few effects into one. The first layer has each player shuffle their hand into their deck and draw a new one – devilishly useful at the right moment, when you’re strapped and your opponent has expended lots of effort on draw to get everything they ever wanted.
The second layer is that you only draw back as many cards as you have remaining Prize Cards – so if you use it right, it can be a devastating comeback tactic that’ll spin games on a dime. No wonder it’s currently worth over $80:
The prices are going down all over tabletop land – for more yummy discounts, check out our guides to the best Black Friday board game deals, the best Black Friday Lego deals, and our favorite Black Friday 3D printer deals too.
For more monstery delights, check out our guides to the best Pokémon cards and most powerful Pokémon cards out there – or, if you’re wondering how many Pokémon are there these days, click that link for our no-nonsense breakdown.